The social question, labor and State: the view of Brazilian parliamentary elites

Abstract

The social question, as an aporetic and a potential source for a legitimacy crisis of the capitalist system, has mobilized sociological thinking and other fields, such as the political and the economic. This paper is a discourse analysis of Brazilian parliamentary elites' speeches concerning labor legislation drafts presented at the Parliament during the emergence of the twentieth century capitalism. 73 speeches of Brazilian parliament members and 4,490 drafts presented during the period of a decade were analyzed. The social question in Parliament politics, particularly politics related to labor, is seen as a relational dimension with different approaches: to the role of State, to the economic model and to social movements.